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5/14/2013 2:43PM

How Video Games Make Brains Sharper

A recent study showed that cancer survivors suffering from loss of memory and attention span benefited from cognitive video games like those made by Lumosity. Krishna Kakarala, Lumosity CFO, joins digits to discuss how mind games can benefit everyone. Photo: Lumosity.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... how do you find chemo brain and what is it won't use of Raymond James while commit Digits I'm Simon Constable ... and joining us to help explain this and some ... new ... technology we go to increase backpacker Rama his as CFO of whom also becomes the smile you're on sentences go thank you Brian much of a mess up ... happy to join in ... what what his team O'Brien ... yes the chemo brain is a side effect associated with chemotherapy ... on that so I guess been research over the years ... I'm one of the unfortunate side effects of chemotherapy is a ... production in certain core cognitive ability is on ... experienced over time ah but during chemotherapy and ... unfortunately I it's a long term side effect even after chemotherapy ... is is over I'm ... that ... results in production and lower executive function I working memory cetera ... ok so when you say executive function why why was I am in the days that has us thinking basically ... yet it's essentially on one example of it would be your ability to serve plain plan your day to day activities ... on its things as simple as wanting to go to the grocery store them on ... what am I ... my friend or member the things that I need to ... buy at the grocery store I'm ... going to go to the drugs for afterwards etc ... so ... I understand there is a study just now that says if you do someday implying ... venom running game see you might be able to help count so that tells about an owl ... who Monopoly Wilson's he relates to that ... sure yet so aam ... the of all address the study specifically but also its aam ... relevant to talk about for the overall research framework in which the study happened ... aam but for some the study says Doctor Shelley councilor and her colleagues at Stanford University ... one of the answers our question which is ... ten cognitive training ... on ... to ... improve the core cognitive abilities of people that have gone through ... I'm chemotherapy and specifically they focused on breast cancer survivors that that had ... gone through chemotherapy is part of their treatment ... um so what they did was put ... out the study persistence through Mosby training for a period of twelve weeks ah for four sessions per week ... and then the other half wore on oh wait let's on them they ... up with the safer dispense both the active group and the wait was croup through ... pre and post sought cognitive assessment testing ... TUI determine if there is any effect of of cognitive training ... and exciting result was that they ... I were able to demonstrate that ... people were trained on the mosque before that twelve week period ... aam showed improvement and ... in core certain executive function abilities things like cognitive flexibility ... of verbal fluency speed of processing ... ahh and that was an improvement over that controller weightless group ... um ... and so that's an exciting outcome for us specifically for ... on for survivors ... of breast cancer who went through chemotherapy ... but also as part of the overall data sat around and I've effect in the midst of cognitive training ... with the masa the ... so this is actually the fifth period the ... article that come out ... that investigates ... the effects of carbon trading with a mosque and found positive and an YouTube you do so in other collusive training and we were looking at some pages and video games that ... I'm that that is what you mean by that time to time the playing of the city eventually actually have to ... to perform some tasks only get harder and harder and harder and faster and faster ride ... that's absolutely you're a ... hot since we got started we launched the product in summer two thousand seven we now have ... over fall forty cognitive training exercises ... available on the side and that is ... exercise their package as fun and engaging games on that dynamic we adopted the ability level of the user ... so our members can keep coming back for a challenging and teaching experience ... on the other ... popping dimension around the product is that those games are organized into daily personalized training sessions so you can think of loss means the gym for your brain ... and we provide the personal trainer is well ... to focus your trading sessions on the call for cognitive abilities that you care most about whether its ... memory attention flexibility speed of processing problem solving Sutter ... low last question for you into this works all the stake the people who who may need some help because of chemotherapy ... doesn't also work for all the people of the people who are generally healthy and have a normally functioning brands ... yes absolutely and there is on ... Ms Pirie viewed research on normal healthy adults as well that ... demonstrates the yet the training benefited using Mosby and in fact if you look at our ... our user base or member base today ... it's extremely broad in terms of the demographics we see everyone from students in school the people in their working for years to retirees ... aam all using Mosby to get the benefits of of cognitive training in their life ... took a very very interesting stuff thank you Brian much Krishna ... Qatar Allah CFO often Mosby we appreciate time so ... thank you